The old Clinton gang gathers in Little Rock to look back and discuss Hillary 2016

Group of 8 Granite Staters will meet with President Clinton during trip

A group of eight Granite Staters are in Little Rock with roughly 500 others of the most loyal supporters of Clintons to look back at a presidential campaign 20 years ago and one three years from now.

Former U.S. Ambassador Terry Shumaker, former state Rep. Ricia McMahon, Deb Crapo and other “usual suspects” from New Hampshire arrived in Little Rock this week and will meet with President Clinton this weekend.

They are among the group known as the “Arkansas Travelers” who willingly signed up to travel to other states during the 1992 campaign to aid Bill Clinton’s campaign however they could. Along with dinners, a trip to Clinton’s birthplace of Hope, they will also attend a ceremony where an six-month exhibit on the “travelers” at the Clinton library will be unveiled. (More on the exhibit here.)

Getting the old gang back together in Little Rock is more “nostalgic” than strategic, according to McMahon, who left New Hampshire briefly to work in the Clinton Administration.

“If Hillary decides to run, we are there. She is regarded among this group,” McMahon said. “We can’t help but have expectations for and wishes for her to run. It has been a hot topic of conversation as to what we can do for her.”

Hillary 2016, Shumaker said, is “not what this gathering is really about.”

“When she is ready we are all here. We are just really relieved to see she seems to be in better health,” Shumaker said.

Copyright 2013 by WMUR.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.